food insecure

adjective

variants or less commonly food-insecure

: unable to consistently access or afford adequate food

According to data released last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 17 percent of Americans—more than 50 million people—live in households that are "food insecure," a term that means a family sometimes runs out of money to buy food, or it sometimes runs out of food before it can get more money.

—Lisa Miller

A food-insecure household may be faced with the difficult choice of paying for basic necessities, such as health care and housing, or buying nutritionally adequate foods.

—Elyse Miller

Examples of food insecure in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The participants all had a chronic health condition or were food insecure. —Aria Bendix, NBC News, 21 Mar. 2024

The kits are distributed through hunger relief agencies throughout San Diego to help low-income, food insecure residents learn how to grow their own healthy food. —Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1977, in the meaning defined above